It was a warm evening, door opened to the world. Our parish hall was converted into a sleek vehicle for the art - tall black lamp posts perched along the south windows, chairs interspersed between looking towards the artwork. Green covered tables invited guests and artists alike to sit down and talk. In the ground, modern jazz played, saxophone weaving the magic of the night together.
As you entered, Paul Coughlin’s art beckoned you from the doorway. Collages whispered secrets, papers layered with circles and found history. His chapbooks elegantly streamed together, each a chapter of visual and metaphorical novels arranged around each other. Two arresting wood carvings were displayed next to the collages - 9 and Safety Pin.
Paul shared the tenuous process of epoxying & shaping of 9 - how an elegantly austere piece required many hands to direct it, and to literally hang from the stem, to pull it through and past its groove.
Safety Pin is just as elegant. After sketching several drafts, his woodwork instructor presented the students with unique material: bricks milled from a long-standing tree from the center of Poughkeepsie. Safety Pin is a reminder that the everyday things - pins and trees - can be pivotal to our lives as unsung staples.
Michele Card’s oil pieces draw you toward the back wall, where a series of Adirondack landscapes unfold along the space. They explore verdant summer scenes and radiant winterscapes, evoking warm memories. Card’s grandson, Anthony, expertly arranged a trio of small farm pieces, guiding the eye along to find echoes of warmth between poppies and barns.
Card often works from photo references to capture improbably beautiful moments, converting them onto canvas. Her eye for the extraordinary aligns with the stylings of classic Hudson Valley Conservatory. After a few years refining her skills in portaits and action scenes - such as Chestnut Grace and Conversation - she is returning to landscapes with renewed passion.
Steven Canino rounds out the room with bold whimsy, marrying precise technique with play. His oil paintings have a complex evolution, often ideas layered onto the other in a kaleidoscoping symphony. In exploring the application of paint via unusual tools, such as Q-tips and pool noodles, Steven’s pieces are inextricably fun and difficult to describe.
Notably his piece, “Childhood Dream”, captures the hazy nostalgia of Argentina; the bridge dissipating into the distance. It’s bright and welcoming, yet still rooted in the surrounding green and blue hills.
The Riverside Art Show was a beautiful event for a warm summer evening. It ended with a raffle for one of Canino’s pieces. We look forward to sharing more of these events in the future!
Stay tuned for more.
